Supreme Court Justices make McGeorge a Regular Stop

Justice Kathryn Werdegar of the California Supreme Court paid a visit to McGeorge on March 12, 2009, becoming the second state high court member to speak at the campus in the past few weeks.

Werdegar, one of three women on the seven-person Supreme Court, spoke on the topic of "Why a Woman on the Bench?" She delighted a crowd of students and faculty with tales of her would-be efforts to land a legal job out of law school and anecdotes drawn from her first judicial post on a previously all-male appellate bench.

Werdegar credited former Supreme Court of the United States Justice Sandra Day O'Connor with being a role model and inspiring many young women to enter the legal profession "Women do bring a different life experience to the profession of law and the bench," she said. "The power of a role model cannot be overstated. If you don't see career success in action, sometimes you can't imagine it."

Werdegar's appearance at McGeorge was sponsored by two student groups, the McGeorge Federalist Society and the Women's Caucus, and the Capital Center for Law & Policy.

Justice Marvin Baxter spoke here on February 2, 2009. He was appointed to the California Supreme Court in 1991 while Werdegar joined the court three years later. Judge Connie Callahan, '75, of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals also was a recent visitor.